New World
by Queen of the Beasts
Summary: -Currently being rewritten, set after 'Darkest Hour'-The surviving Autobots are savored when a new group decides to take them in. Chaos rises and hilarious situations are created. But what will happen when a stranger comes to Earth and puts their lives on the line?


**Author's Note**: Hey, everyone. It's me. Listen, I have some news to tell you. I have reread this story so many times and I realized that I didn't like it one bit. So, I decided to redo it, ignoring the rest of season three, but I'll get some plots in, including some characters.

This story takes place in the Aligned universe, the one with the cartoon Prime in it. It's kinda like an AU version of what happens after 'Darkest Hour'. No, trust me, it's not that bad. I'm just hoping though that this will become a great story; I just need good criticism, that's all. So, please enjoy this while you can.

* * *

1. Invitation

___300 years ago…_

___Millions and millions of stars twinkled across the dark sky. Every living thing came to the planet and left it like a flame of a candle. The sun shone brightly on one side of the planet, whereas the moon dimmed the dark sky of the other half. Water sparkled in the seas, oceans, lakes, and rivers. Plants grew and withered away. Animals roamed the land and waters, humans thrived for adventure and good life. All seemed peaceful and quiet in its perfect atmosphere._

___That was, until in the middle of the void upon the planet of the living, a speck of it rippled and a gray ship swam through before it assembled and nearly lost all fire power. The strange spacecraft was trying to stay in control, but the force was pulling it towards the planet._

_"____We seem to be having a bit of a problem!" a femme cried out as she stumbled on the floor._

_"____Hang on," a mech said as he got a hold of her._

_"____Oh, man," another femme complained. "We're suppose to be a secret experiment gone wrong, not a bunch of ragtag soldiers."_

_"____Ugh, we had no choice," their commander piped up. "We were the only ones who could protect Tyger Pax's people in time before the Decepticons could do any damage to them."_

___Someone among them snarled. "The cons would have came after us. We could have attacked!"_

___SMACK!_

_"____Ow! What was that for?"_

_"Now, w____here was the honor in what happened back there?" a third femme snapped. "A little mistake wouldn't have hurt us much. Besides, we're still functional, aren't we?"_

___Before the mech could answer her, their ship started to shake and they all toppled over._

_"__Shields are failing fast!" cried a third mech._

_"__More like doing a major fade," the second femme restated._

_"____Not strong enough," a fourth mech reported. "We're going down."_

_"____Well, isn't that just peachy? Launch all relics! Get them into safe orbit!"_

___As soon as they did, the computer immediately warned, "Warning, planetary impact enacted."_

___Opening up to a room, the commander commanded, "Everyone into a stasis pod. Quickly!"_

___All of his comrades rushed over to the pods and entered them. Except for one of the younger ones. "What about you, big bot?"_

_"__I'm trying to make sure we don't land in a populated area," the commander said as he tried to ease up ____the ship from ending up in a town. He succeeded, but ended up having the ship spiral out of control and head straight for the side of a hill covered with trees. As quick as he could, he got up and dashed to one of the remaining stasis pods. He locked himself in it and felt himself fade into darkness._

___It wasn't long before they crashed down into a place on the bizarre planet. The planet we humans call Earth._

* * *

_Present day…_

Fire blazed over Omega Outpost One. The Autobot's symbol, graced so proudly on the floor, was now stained with soot. The rubble had fallen around it, leaving it open to the air, but not unmarked.

Said piles of rubble littered the area, diminutive mountains of rock with metal tools and construction stuck out at every angle. The fire clung to them, the rock turned red, the metal glowing white-hot.

Across the compound, a pile of ruins began to shift. First one boulder fell, then another, then dozens. A figure, bent and battered, slowly rose from beneath it. A single limb fought for purchase on the shifting rubble, clawing desperately at the rock. Shadows flashed across the surface of its metallic chassis, but somehow unaffected by the heat as the refuse had been.

The being—er, robot, sorry—was hunched over on its knees, as though searching for something. Its arms began to shove aside the ruins that had imprisoned the mecha.

He stood, and with a smooth supple movement, began to walk across the base. Firelight bounced off metal skin, forming strange patterns. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the far side of the floor. The robot reached out and began to push aside the boulders that had fallen near the wall. Despite his wounds, despite having only half if his strength, the mecha cleared away the debris.

He stare got a moment at the object that had lain beneath the rubble.

It was a large golden hammer covered in soot.

A deep voice came from the robot, a voice that seemed to carry the weight of a million years, or more, a voice that held anger, bitterness, despair, and hope.

"The Forge of Solus Prime."

With a trembling hand, the mecha reached out and featured the shaft of the hammer. At his touch, it lit up a brilliant azure, brighter than the flames. For a long moment, the robot simply stood there, watching. Waiting. But nothing happened.

At long last, he heaved on the shaft, pulling the hammer up and over his shoulder. Its weight bore him down, but he did not stop there. Instead, with a clanking, coughing sound, the metal panels of his body began to rearrange themselves. It was almost painful. But after a long moment, the panels assumed a shape that seemed to be a semi truck. The engine sputtered for a moment before finally turning over and starting. Slowly the truck-shape drove forward into the desert.

* * *

There were only them: the Autobots and their allies. Three humans plus seven of the extra terrestrial metal beings equaled ten. And so far only half of them were the first to find out. Well, to find out _they_ had been on Earth the entire time.

Arcee and Jack had been transported from the Autobot base when they found out the Decepticons had discovered it's location. However, they were to be alone. It was Optimus' idea for them to be separated until they could regroup somewhere, though they did not know where to be exact. Agent Fowler made contact and told them the base was destroyed, which horrified and made them wonder if the rest of them had survived and/or escaped. Now it looked like as if they were on their own there.

Their setting was in the evening somewhere in the eastern front of the United States, trees surrounding them as the two drove down a long highway. Jack had just told Arcee how the Decepticons had captured him and the other two. When he was done, she told him in a fuming tone, "They won't get away with it, Jack. I swear, if they did anything to hurt you or Miko or Raf, I will make them pay dearly."

"Arcee, we're fine," Jack said, trying to calm her down. "I know how it is since you lost Cliffjumper and Tailgate, but I don't want you to strain yourself."

Arcee sighed heavily. "I know, Jack."

"And sometimes, well, no, a lot of the time it actually makes me worry about you."

"Aren't you always worried?"

"Yes, but I just want you to be there for me in the darkest moments."

"I'm always going to be there for you, Jack," Arcee said. "Like your parents are there for you, I'll be there. Always have, always will."

Jack exhaled, relieved to hear how she still cares for him. Like Bulkhead for Miko, Bumblebee for Rafael. It made his heart skip a beat for a while. It stopped swelling when he thought of what could happen now that they were separated from each other. So many questions stirred in his mind. Did Optimus, Ratchet, and Smokescreen escape? Did they survive? Are the others alive? Where were they? How will they meet up? Which one of those questions will he ask first?

"Arcee, about the others," Jack said, trying to keep his voice from straining, "I'm worried about them."

Jack heard his guardian sigh. "I know, Jack. I can't help but wonder if they got out of there alive myself."

"Do you think the cons could have caught them before they did anything to the base?" Jack questioned without thinking. "I mean, what if they decide to come after us?"

Arcee seemed surprised before it was replaced with a frown. "Let's just stick together," Arcee ordered. "Jack, if we do see any Decepticons, do not run off unless I say so. Got it?"

Jack groaned. "Fine."

''And Jack?''

''Hmm.''

''Don't strain yourself if I end up as scrap.''

Jack laughed as they took a curve. Arcee smiled, relieved to hear him laugh. That was when she heard it—the sound of an engine before she saw headlights on the highway connected to the road they were on. She picked up the speed to get to the stop sign before the car could.

"Arcee, what are you doing?" Jack panicked.

"The engine—it sounds familiar," Arcee breathed. She cried out and screeched suddenly to a stop as a huge, green all-terrain truck nearly ran into them, almost causing them to flip over. But Jack held on tightly as Arcee skidded safely to a stop. Jack panted, Arcee gasping, as they stopped on the other side of the road.

"Jack, are you okay?" Arcee asked concerned.

"Yeah, I think so," Jack gasped. He turned to the truck to find one of the doors opening. _Oh, great,_ he thought. _Just what we needed._ At lease until he saw who it was. "Miko?"

"Jack!" Miko cried out as she sprinted over and hugged him. "You guys are alive."

"Arcee? Jack?" the truck asked as it transformed into a hulking mech.

"Bulkhead?" Arcee exclaimed as she, too, transformed.

"You guys! I thought we would never see you again!" Bulkhead nearly shouted in relief as he ran over and crushed Arcee into a death hug.

"We thought you guys were caught by the cons," Jack said, looking up at him as he tried to pry Miko off of him. "Jeepers, Miko, I'm not going anywhere."

Miko smiled before playfully punching him. "Weakling."

"Funny."

Miko seemed overwhelmed. "So, now what do we do?"

"We'll try to find the others if we can," Arcee said. "Then we'll plan our next move from there."

"Wait, what about Jasper?" Jack asked, mentioning his old hometown.

"That we'll try to figure out," Arcee told him. She transformed. "Right now, we need to find a place to rest."

"She's right," Bulkhead said as he transformed.

Miko cocked her head and looked at Jack before she climbed into Bulkhead. Jack got onto Arcee before they took off.

* * *

Moments later, a fire was set up for the kids, Arcee and Bulkhead watching over them peacefully. The night had gotten cold and Miko huddled closely to the fire. Jack leaned against a tree. He sighed, "Looks like we're stuck in a rut."

"You're telling me," mumbled Arcee, looking up at the stars.

Miko rubbed her arms in an effort to keep herself warmer in the cool night. "I'm worried."

"Don't be," Jack said. "I've said that many times now." He looked up at Bulkhead. "What happened after you and Miko left?"

"Rough ride, that's what we got," Bulkhead told him. "It wasn't that much fun, but we managed to get out of St. Louis."

"Huh," was all that Jack could say.

Miko sighed. "I just hope the others are okay," she spoke softly, rubbing her forearm over her eyes. "When Bulkhead and I left instantly, I didn't think the rest of you—

She suddenly hiccuped. "I'm just scared right now. Not just about Optimus or Ratchet or the other guys, but for Jasper and everyone in the city. Did any of them survived or escaped?"

Bulkhead gently rubbed her back with one of his knuckles. "You heard what Fowler said. He had the city evacuated before Megatron could hit."

Miko nodded. "I know, but now why do I feel like as if something..." The girl couldn't bring herself to finish as tears leaked out of her whiskey colored eyes.

"Something is going to happen?" Arcee finished.

"Yeah," Miko sighed.

"Like what?"

"What if the Cons don't get us first? What if something else does like in those cartoons from the nineties?"

Jack frowned. "It's just us—the humans, Autobots, and Decepticons. We're so far the only living things in the galaxy. I mean, what else does the universe hold?"

Arcee's sensors began to pick something up. "Scrap."

"Decepticons?" Bulkhead asked.

Miko perked a little bit, causing Jack to become uneasy. He knew how Miko was when it came to battle. Practically, all of Team Prime knew how she was.

"No, not that I know of," Arcee responded, causing Miko to pout. "But they're coming in from that direction. We've got to hide and fast."

Miko grumbled as Jack put the fire out, grabbed her and hauled her to where Arcee and Bulkhead were hiding in the foliage of the forest, just as a boy around eight dragged his dad to where they last where.

"But I swear I saw it, I promise," the boy said as he glanced around letting go of his father's hand. "It had claws and everything..."

Jack craned his neck to hear better, possibly thinking he meant a dog or something. But there weren't any wolves or coyotes around where they are, were there?

"Clifford...There are no such things as winged wolves, you probably just saw a deer, that's all."

"But it was big and hairy with bird legs instead of regular dog legs and this golden wings with tail feathers," the boy said, showing just exactly _what_ the animal looked like.

Arcee and Bulkhead looked at each other confused. Wolves with wings and talons? Was that even possible?

"That's not possible, is it?" Miko whispered to Jack.

"Please don't get me started," Jack mumbled.

"Clifford, the forest can play tricks on you," the father said as he gently placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "You're probably just excited about going to the museum tomorrow. Now, let's go back, we don't want your mother leaving us behind again.

"Okay," the boy mumbled as the father guided his son away from them.

Miko waited until they were gone before she stepped out into the blue. "What was that all about?"

''So, you were saying?'' Arcee asked, making Jack glare up at her.

"Do those things exist?" Bulkhead asked.

"Does what exist?" Jack asked.

"Wolves with bird wings."

"No," Jack assured him.

"Then why did the kid say he saw one?"

"You heard the guy," said Arcee. "The forest can play tricks on you."

"Like that one time where you thought you saw Airachnid, but it actually turned out to be a regular spider?" Bulkhead said, trying hard not to laugh.

Arcee didn't seem happy with his remark, causing the kids to snicker.

"Now is not a good time to say that," she hissed at a smirking Bulkhead before she turned to them all. "We'll head out on the open road first thing in the morning. Then we'll hopefully find the others along the way. They could be anywhere in the country, or continent. Until then, it looks like we're on our own from here."

"So, where will we go once morning comes?" Miko asked.

"There is a town not far from here in the southeast," said Bulkhead. "But the problem is that we don't have any money for it."

"I might have some leftover money in my pockets," said Jack.

"I think I do, too," said Miko.

"Then we should be okay," said Arcee. "You two should get some shut eye now."

"What about you guys?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, don't you guys sleep, too?" questioned Miko.

"Of course we do!" exclaims Bulkhead. "Why else do our optics go offline?"

"Hmm, fair point," Jack mumbled almost sarcastically. He walked over to Arcee, who had settled herself against a tree before he set himself against her. Miko climbed atop of Bulkhead who set himself by some boulders. Before they knew it, the kids were asleep.

"Arcee, do you think the others made it out alive?" asked Bulkhead, also concerned about Wheeljack.

"I don't know," Arcee groaned, flopping her head onto her right shoulder. "I really want to know if they're okay myself."

"What do you think caused Prime to separate us?" Bulkhead wondered.

"Probably a malfunction he thought would happen," said Arcee. "I don't know. We all were never too graceful. Remember the time when we first arrived on Earth and you walked into those power lines?" She chuckled at the memory, causing Bulkhead to frown in a moody way. "Who knew you could dance like that?"

"Ha ha, very funny," Bulkhead mused.

"I'm sorry, but it was funny the way you were hopping around," Arcee giggled.

"Hmm," Bulkhead said thoughtfully. "Hey, Arcee, I know we asked this before, but does the forest actually play tricks on you?"

Arcee threw her head back slowly as she looked up at the sky. "I don't know, Bulk. I don't really know." She did not also know that a pair of eyes had followed them to their campsite.

The person watching them was an actual human being. It was dark outside, so it was hard to see what she looked like. The girl studied them and listened to their conversation carefully. She shook her head when they both fell asleep. She suddenly reached into her pocket and pulled out a black device. She pressed a number and held it up to her ear, not taking an eye off of the Autobots.

"Hello?" a voice answered.

"You will not believe what I just found."

"What is it?"

"Two giant robots with two children, possibly Cybertronians. Any confirmations?"

There was a short pause before the person asked, "What color are their eyes?"

"The robots? Blue, why?"

There was a really long pause there before she heard the voice say, "See if you can get them to our base first thing in the morning. I have a thing or two to discuss with them."

* * *

When morning came, the group was surprised.

When she woke up, Miko felt exhausted. She let her eyes flutter open, glancing around. With a sinking feeling, she realized that she was still outside in the middle of nowhere, that she was still a prisoner of the wilderness. She tried going back to sleep; maybe when she woke up next time she would wake up inside the Autobot base.

Something on top of her moved.

Miko shuffled to find a warm blanket with a snowy scene and polar bears covering her. She looked over to Jack and saw a black blanket with fire flames licking it embracing him as he slept peacefully next to Arcee.

_Somethings not right,_ she thought to herself as she wrapped the blanket around her, walking over to him and Arcee. She knelt down beside his sleeping form and gently shook him. "Jack. Jack. Jackie, wake up."

Jack stirred in his sleep before his silvery gray eyes slowly peeled open. "Miko, go away," he mumbled. "I'm trying to get some sleep here."

"Jack, it's probably seven in the morning, for Pete's sakes," said Miko. "We gotta go now."

"Go away," Jack groaned as he pulled the blanket up to his chin. His eyes snapped open when he sat up and pulled the blanket off of him. "What the heck?" He studied it before he looked at Miko. "Miko, did you give this to me?"

"What?! Psh! No," said Miko. "I'm not that soft towards you."

"Touche."

Arcee began to stir in her sleep before her optics came online. She glanced down before she frowned. "Where did you get those?"

"We were asking ourselves the same thing," said Jack. He ducked to the left and frowned. "Where's Bulkhead?"

"Bulkhead?" Miko echoed as she turned around to find him gone. He was just here.

Arcee stood up before she swiveled her head a little bit. "Bulkhead?" she called out. "Bulkhead!"

"Over here," they heard him yell. They turned to find him by a small cluster of trees. The cautiously walked over to him and stood by him.

"Wait here," Arcee told them. She walked over and stopped by Bulkhead's side. "What is it?"

"I felt a disturbance in the force," Bulkhead answered, causing Jack and Miko to laugh.

"Ha ha, very funny," Arcee scoffed.

"What?" Bulkhead said. "Oh come on. You seriously have no sense of humor."

That was when a vine dropped down from the trees. Bulkhead screeched like a girl and jumped around, waving his arms like crazy, yelling to get it off. Arcee was laughing at the way he was doing it while Jack stared at him in amusement.

"This cannot be happening," Miko mumbled to herself before saying, "Bulkhead, relax! It's not going to hurt you."

Bulkhead stopped and stared at the vine. "Oh. I knew that."

"What is that?" Arcee nearly demanded.

"It's called a plant, or in this case a vine," Jack explained.

"I know that," Arcee said. "But how on Earth did it grew so quickly?"

Jack frowned as he edged closer to the vine. "That's odd," he said. "I've never seen a type of plant like this before in my life. Or had I?"

Miko frowned. "Funny. I never paid attention in Environmental Science class and even I know that this plant shouldn't exist here."

Arcee suddenly felt vibes crawling up her back. With what knowledge she had absorbed from the kids for the past months she all of the sudden doubted they knew much. I mean, first the winged wolf. Now this plant. Was there a lot of things that they still needed to know or are there other intelligent lives on this planet besides them?

"Arcee?"

The female looked down at Miko.

"Can we go now?"

Arcee stared at her before smiling.

"Yeah. Yeah, we can."

* * *

"Can we stop for awhile?" Bulkhead asked half an hour later. "I'm starting to think I'm running out of gas."

"Just hang in there a little longer," Arcee told him. "We'll be in a town shortly."

That was when a blast hit the other side of the road.

"Or not."

"Cons!" Bulkhead cried as they both came to a screeching halt. Jack jumped off of Arcee and Miko jumped out of Bulkhead before they both transformed. The shot a look at the direction where it came from.

"Scrap!" Arcee cursed. "It's Starscream."

"How did he find out where we were at?" Miko yelped.

"Come on," Jack seethed as they hid behind some rocks.

They watched as the seeker flew when some Vehicons surrounding them. They took positions and aimed their guns at them.

"Bulkhead, watch out!" Arcee yelled as soon as they were being blasted. They aimed their blasters at them and fired.

"Where did they all even come from?" Miko asked.

"Doesn't matter," said Jack. "What matters is if we get out of here alive or not."

Arcee and Bulkhead were not having such a great time. No matter how many times they kept shooting, the Decepticon troopers kept getting up.

"Arcee, they're getting back up," announced Bulkhead.

"These things just don't die," Arcee hissed.

"How is that even possible?" Bulkhead asked.

Suddenly, blasts came from behind them. They both turned to see a figure running at them as he continued to blast at the troopers.

"Smokescreen?" said Bulkhead.

"Duck and cover!" yelled Smokescreen as he ran at them. He ran past them before he jumped mid-air and took out a couple of Vehicons in the process.

"Smokescreen," gasps Jack. "Where did he come from?"

"Who cares?" squeaks Miko as she watched all three of them fight. "As long as they kick Decepticon butt, I have a fight to actually record."

Jack rolled his eyes. Still the same old Miko.

Arcee was thrown backwards and crashed in both Bulkhead and Smokescreen. They were flown backwards and landed a couple yards from the kids. Miko yelped as Jack jumped to his feet, grabbing her to get out of the way.

"Bulkhead!" Miko shouted.

"Arcee, are you okay?" Jack asked.

They struggled to get up, but Starscream transformed and landed in front of them.

"Well, well," he taunted. "If it isn't the Autobots and their precious little pets. My, haven't you three been busy with them."

"Keep...away...from...them," Arcee stammered as she got on her knees.

"Now, why would I want to hurt them?" Starscream sneered as he got closer to them.

"Don't come any closer," Jack shouted.

Starscream reeled his head, laughing. "Is that really the best you can do, human?" He came closer.

"Run!" Arcee shouted.

Jack grabbed Miko's wrist. "Let's get out of here."

They immediately ran for the woods.

"You cannot hide from me, humans!" Starscream bellowed. "I will find you no matter how far you go!"

Miko and Jack kept running, not knowing what was going to happen to their friends now.

* * *

It seemed like a quiet day. She was under a tree, reading her book, enjoying herself. She skimmed through the book, listening to the birds chirp. A faint smile was graced on her pink lips. Her eyes were glistening with the happiness she had been craving for what seemed like for all eternity. Life was simple and happy.

Until she remembered her mission when she heard shouts and shots in the distance.

The girl looked up from her book. Stuffing it in her bag, she got up from the tree and headed straight into the direction of the commotion. She pushed through some bushes and when her eyes laid on the scene, she nearly screamed.

* * *

Starscream swiped at the two teenagers. Miko tried to duck, but to no avail.

The claws sent her and Jack careening into the air and landing on the ground.

Jack almost went unconscious, while Miko remained barely awake. The monster stalked up to the two of them and Miko immediately knew this would be the last thing she saw.

"Daddy, Mommy," she whispered, "I'm sorry."

Starscream raised his claws for the killing blow…

When a blur of pale yellow slammed into him.

The Decepticon seeker stumbled a bit and the blur solidified into something much more identifiable.

An Autobot femme.

A small Autobot femme?

Miko had never seen a femme other than Arcee before. And this particular small one in front of her and Jack...

This new femme was _not_ Arcee.

She had electric blue optics and light gray skin. Her armor was pale yellow with blue and aqua green high-lights here and there. A visor covered her mouth. Two fins protruded to the back of her helm. An Autobot symbol adorned her torso

"Keep away from them!" the femme shouted, two blades similar to Arcee's popping out of the sockets of her lower arms and began to slash unmercifully at Starscream.

But the seeker dodged from one of her final blows. But at the same time, the femme was clever. She ducked between his legs as his claws came down to the ground. She jumped onto his back and lashed at his wings. Starscream cried out in pain before grabbing her and throwing her across the small clearing. She ended up hitting an oak tree and falling to the ground.

Miko yelled out in surprise as the femme collapsed. She slammed something her chest and, well, what happened was a shocker. The armor began to unfold from her entire body. The optics flickered off as the entire face, visor, and helmet retracted. The armor had completely turned into some sort of an amulet. Miko couldn't believe her luck. What was once an Autobot femme was now a human her age.

It was a girl, with shoulder length red hair and slightly large amethyst eyes. Her skin was sweaty and pale brown; pretty and plain, with a round face and a button nose. She was wearing a yellow tank-top with a dark blue strip running down the middle of it that seemed too long for her, a pair of blue capris, two fingerless gloves, and black high tops. Her trademark was the black headband that rested on her head and the amulet that hung around her neck.

Starscream got up and angrily looked around. When he couldn't find the femme, he turned to Miko and Jack. "Where is that brat?"

Miko pointed at the girl.

"Miko!" Jack snapped.

Starscream looked over before glaring back at them. "Seriously!"

"Um, no, I'm serious," Miko said.

Starscream glared at the girl and studied her hard as she knelt before him in a defensive position. His angry expression suddenly disappeared and was quickly replaced with a look of horror. "What...what is that—that's not possible!"

"Keep away!" the girl snapped as she struggled onto her feet.

"Keep away from me!" Starscream gasped.

"What's wrong? Afraid to kill me?" hissed the stranger.

"I'm more _afraid_ of what happens if I do," Starscream yelped.

"What's he talking about?" Jack asked her.

"I don't know, but this isn't funny," said the kid as she stood up fully.

"Get back! I don't want you! You're one of them!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Keep away from me, you...Autobot bandit!" And with that, Starscream transformed and took to the skies.

The girl blinked a couple of times before she heard Miko ask, "What was that all about?"

"I don't think you're safe anymore," Jack told the stranger.

"Big surprise," said the girl, rolling her eyes.

"Wait, what was he talking about?" Jack questioned.

"I don't really know, but we're running out of time," the girl stated. "I wanted to get you guys there before their commander comes back from a recon mission."

"Wait, who?" Miko asked.

The girl opened her mouth, only to be stopped when she heard the voices of the Autobots. She gasped and ran behind a tree.

"Hey, wait!" Jack started, only to be stopped when the Autobots approached.

"Jack," said Arcee as she came forward and knelt down. "Are you two okay?"

Miko gave her a thumbs up.

"Thank the Allspark that no one else was around," Bulkhead sighed.

"Why?" Smokescreen. "Not that it's a bad thing."

"Because someone is worried about vines dropping from the sky," Arcee teased.

"You got scared because of a vine," Smokescreen questioned.

"I THOUGHT IT WAS A SNAKE!" Bulkhead yelled.

There was a snicker and the group jumped. "What was that?" Arcee asked.

"Someone is behind those trees," Bulkhead told her, pointing.

Miko and Jack looked at each other, nervous and worried.

Arcee frowned before peering at the trees. She silently stepped forward and tried to peer around them. "Hello?"

She watched as the girl's head slowly peeked from behind the trunk.

"It's alright," Arcee coaxed gently. "We're not going to hurt you."

The girl's eyes darted from the Autobots to the kids. She came from behind the trees and nodded as she stepped forward a little bit. "Hi," she said. She looked up at the three Autobots again. "Are you guys Autobots?"

Smokescreen was surprised. "How do you know what we are?"

"Lucky guess," the girl said.

"Um, we didn't catch your name," said Jack.

"I was going to say the same," said the girl. "I'm Sari Sumdac."

"I'm Miko and that's Jack and that's Arcee and that's Bulkhead and that's Smokescreen," said Miko, indicating them before they got the chance to introduce themselves.

"Hmm, interesting names," Sari inquired.

"What are you even doing out here?" asked Arcee. "And did you give Jack and Miko those blankets?"

"I'm out here for you guys and yes, I did give them the blankets," answered Sari. "It gets cold out here, you know what it's like here in West Virginia."

"What do you mean 'I'm out here for you guys?'" Jack questioned, repeating her first statement.

"I'm out here for you," Sari echoed. "I came out here on my way home when I stumbled across you. I work alongside a group of soldiers that are—If I'm correct—on your side. They want to meet you first thing in the morning."

Bulkhead and Arcee glanced at each other.

"More Autobots?" said Smokescreen.

"Hard to tell. Where are they hiding out?" Arcee asked Sari.

Sari smiled. "Trust me, even I couldn't find it."

* * *

"Starscream!" Megatron bellowed. "I give you one precise easy mission and you failed it! You call yourself a trustworthy warrior?"

"I'm sorry, my lord," Starscream wailed. "But the human girl that came out of nowhere and tried to save their lives seems to be another member of that old Autobot team we last encountered three centuries ago."

"Oh? And what old Autobot team would that be?" Megatron questioned.

"The old one, the one that had those really dorky designs...the Autobot bandits are on Earth!"

Megatron seemed to be surprised by this before he growled, "That's impossible! You told me they were exterminated by the virus you injected in the atmosphere above Tyger Pax. You saw it yourself!"

"I thought they were, too, but...but..."

"Enough!" Megatron roared. Then he seemed to calm down when said, "You said there was another human girl with them that seemed to be one of them."

"Yes, my liege; she was one of us one minute and the next she was a human."

"Excuse me?"

"She—she somehow was human from one point. Plus, she bears their symbol around her neck."

"That is...unusual. Are you certain?"

Starscream beckoned for Soundwave to come forward. The silent mech showed the picture of the two Autobot pets with a girl they had never seen before, clutching an amulet with a strange symbol. It was a pair of jagged blade-like shapes centered with a shape that resembled a cat's face, but more extreme than what the Decepticon leader had seen.

"Hmm, it does sound realistic, but just in case, we best as well better keep a watchful optic on them. And then, try to get the children alone and bring them to me unharmed and alive."

* * *

"How much farther do we have to go?" Smokescreen complained to Sari as they drove down the highway by a hill covered with trees.

"Just hang in for another few minutes," Sari told him. She felt her pocket buzzing lightly before she pulled out the same device she had the night before. She pressed the button and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"You actually helped him with this stupid thing?" a male voice shouted, causing her to jump and almost dropping her phone.

"What thing?" Sari yelped as she set the cell back to her ear.

"That thing you tried to pull with that stupid song by Destiney's Child," the voice snapped.

"It's not stupid!" said Sari.

"I kinda thought it was funny," another male said in the background, only much younger and in an Italian accent. "And, you know, after thousands of minutes and hours of fighting, it's not like we all couldn't use a little bit of humor."

"You idiots used him...in a song. And you guys _autotuned_ him!"

"We paid the price, at lease," the young male voice said.

"Just keep fixing that pipe," said the older male.

"But you promised me," whined the young male.

"I said I would when you learn to be patient. And less headstrong," the elder added. "Now, the pipe."

Sari groaned as she hung up. Smokescreen snickered.

"Looks like someone isn't having much of a good day," he chuckled.

Sari rolled her eyes. Then she told Smokescreen, "There's a small path up the hill. Tell Arcee to take it."

"Wouldn't that attract attention?" Smokescreen wondered.

"Not as much as your vehicle mode," Sari snapped.

"Hmm, fair point."

As soon as they made it to a grassy path, Smokescreen told Arcee where to go and she made a direct turn on it with he and Bulkhead following behind.

"There's a cave up ahead. Go inside it," Sari ordered.

"What do these guys even look like?" Smokescreen asked.

"You'll have to find out," said Sari.

There was a small curve where they saw a cave up ahead of them. Bulkhead could feel Miko acting a little bit jumpy. "Geesh, kid, calm down.

"And miss the opportunity to meet more Autobots?" Miko spat excitedly. "Not a chance."

As they drove deeper into the cave it widened into a huge room.

"What is this place?" Jack asked amazed.

"Must be the base," Arcee answered.

"You guys ready?" Sari asked excitedly as she poked her head out of Smokescreen's window.

"Just what are we supposed to see?" Arcee asked curious.

"You'll see," Sari answered before she disappeared back into the vehicle.

Jack looked at Arcee, who could have shrugged if she were not in vehicle mode. They drove towards the entrance into what looked like an empty room that made up the command center. It was just like the one they had, but with more equipment.

"I thought she said—" Arcee's words were cut off when she saw a bizarre creature in front of her. She screeched to a halt, causing her comrades to do the same. Jack held on tightly, his knees digging into her sides.

"Jack!"

"Give us a warning next time," Jack snapped before he looked up. He could have sworn his blood stopped cold.

The creature that stared back at them was exactly what the boy and his father had described. It was _definitely_ a wolf with bird legs for forelegs, two golden wings on his back, and tail feathers instead of an actual tail was. His breath hitched in his throat when he watched it transform into a mech.

He seemed to be a tall avian-like being, with shining silver armor combined with organic fur and parts of it s organic side were exposed from beneath that armor. Its organic body was muscular, from what she could make out. Broad shoulders, a well chiseled abdominal area with strong looking arms and legs. He had techno-matter armor over his shoulders, covering his chest and around his waist was a loin cloth-like armor attachments, knee and shin guards as well. He had clawed feet with black talons. At his back were two broad wings rimmed with gold and black linings, folded neatly at his back. He had a dark face guard over his golden eyes and lining his jaw. The face guard was connected to his wolf-like ears with spiked organic hair lining his cranium. His overall features were the likeness of a feral beast mixed with an he looked up at them, his optics widen in shock and amazement.

But he wasn't the only one there. Miko and Jack looked up to find a mech was standing on a platform with controls and a couple of screens. His skin was green and his armor was brown. A part of a mouth was resting on his front. Two stubby legs were connected to his arms. He had soft red optics, the kind you usually see on the Decepticon. He was probably taller than the kids, but he was still smaller than the Autobots.

Two more rushed in, laughing as one of them—a femme—yelled at the mech that looked quite young. She stopped their chase and laughter when they saw the oncoming Autobots.

The mech was surely young with big expressive gold optics that was full of energy. He had some cat-like features across his pale blue face. A cat's had rested on his chest and a pair of legs were attached to his back. Yellow armor with black spots were attached to him on the shoulders, his lower arms, and his upper legs. It was quite obvious that he could transform into a cheetah.

The femme was mostly green and black in color, her face was a light silvery color while the rest of her protoform was black, like Arcee's, and her optics were also quite big and expressive with a shade of dark green. Her helmet had two crests on the side of her helm that were strewn to the back and another crest that was attached to her forehead like Starscream's and Arcee's, only thicker. Two dark dragon wings folded down over her back, making her look like she was wearing a cape. She looked very Cybertronian except for the claws and the dragon head that rested on her grill and its lower jaw split in two, creating her shoulders. More plates covered her arms and her legs.

There was one above them that was smaller than the two, making it quite obvious he was the youngest. His optics were a dark blue with an orange brown protoform and dark brown armor. Judging by the wings connected to his back, his animal-like lower legs, and the head that split on his shoulders, he could turn into a bat.

"Wow," Miko breathed.

"No way," Jack whispered. He got off of Arcee and the girls got out of their rides so they could transform.

Sari turned to the newcomers with a grin. "Guys, meet the Maximals."

The brown and green mech that was managing the controls came closer and studied the Autobots. "I though Sari said there were _two_ Autobots," he said, making him the one who was yelling at Sari and one of the smaller mechs.

"Haven't you heard?" Arcee said almost sarcastically as she put her hands on her hips before glaring at Smokescreen. "People multiply." Smokescreen waved his servo with a smile, indicating he was the one that added up to three.

* * *

**Author's Note:** I have to admit, I'm pretty hooked into this story. I have never been this hooked since 'Cry of the Spark', an older story I deleted a long time ago.

Well, what do you think? Is it good, is it bad, does it need any work? Well, please read and review, it took me fifteen pages to finish this. Bye!

Disclaimer: I do not own Transformers: Prime or any related contents. I only own those you don't recognize.


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